


A Walk In The Park

by Walkinrobe



Series: Higher Law [2]
Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Mush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-26
Updated: 2019-11-26
Packaged: 2021-02-25 05:09:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21571339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Walkinrobe/pseuds/Walkinrobe
Summary: I can’t let these characters go just yet.A new baby.A walk in the park.A timber fort.They’re still living happily ever after.
Relationships: Scott Moir/Tessa Virtue
Series: Higher Law [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1554613
Comments: 21
Kudos: 104





	A Walk In The Park

**Author's Note:**

> The real Virtue Moir might have retired. 
> 
> But I have not. 😉

The sound of crying children is something very familiar to a paediatric surgeon’s ears. But it’s not something he’s ever really gotten used to hearing. It still hits him in the heart. The sound of a child in need, despair or pain - it’s sad. 

The sound of his own crying children is also very familiar to his ears. However, it invokes a visceral, physical reaction. It’s not just sad, it can be heartbreaking. Or frustrating. Or tortuous. 

Right now it’s all three.

Tess has gone to walk the dogs. Stolen some quiet, well-deserved moments away from the house. 

Four month old Annabelle has woken early. Really early. Early and starving. And she’s telling him all about the injustice she feels at having to wait for her lunch. 

Eight year old Ethan stomps into the kitchen to share the injustice he feels at having to listen to his baby sister’s howls.

‘Dad, Annie is crying really hard!’ he grumps.

‘It’s sounds horrible,’ chimes in his twin sister, stomping equally as dramatically against the hardwood floor.

‘Wow guys, this is a moment of pure parenting magic,’ he deadpans. ‘I wish Mom was here to witness your acute observation skills. She’d be so proud’. 

‘I wish Mom was here too,’ sighs Corinne as she strokes Annie’s scrunched up little face. ‘She could put Annie on her boob and stop the crying’.

He can’t help but chuckle at that statement. She’s not wrong. He needs Tess to come home. 

‘Where is Mom?’ Ethan demands.

‘She’s walking Hallie and Milly,’ he responds, gently bouncing on the spot to try and placate Annabelle’s tears. 

Unsuccessfully.

Corinne tries to distract Annie with a game of peekaboo. 

Unsuccessfully.

‘Can we take Annie to Mommy? It’s sad seeing her so upset,’ Ethan suggests. 

The twins look at him with identical expressions, their heads tilted to the side and their eyebrows raised. Wise little monkeys, yes, that’s just what he was thinking too. 

He immediately grabs his keys from the kitchen counter.

‘C’mon. Let’s get in the car’.

*

Annabelle is not enjoying being in the car. Not one bit. Unsurprisingly, no one else is enjoying being in the car either.

‘Corinne, can you try and hold Annie’s hand, please. See if that makes her feel a little better’. He doesn’t think that’ll make any difference but it’s worth a shot.

He knew Tess was walking to the dog park but when they get there she’s nowhere to be seen. Shit, shit, shit. He hopes she didn’t take a different route home and they haven’t unknowingly passed each other. He decides to give Tess a call. Thank fuck she answers on the second ring.

‘Small baby crisis?’ she laughs as she answers the phone. 

He doesn’t respond immediately, just let’s the sound of Annie’s wails carry down the phone line. 

‘Oh, Annabelle,’ Tess coos, ‘that sounds like a definite small baby crisis’.

‘Yeah, we need you Mommy. Where are you?’ interjects Ethan. 

‘I finished at the dog park and decided to walk the long way home. I’m almost at your favourite playground,’ Tess rushes, her voice competing with Annie’s cries. ‘I’ll start jogging back now’.

‘It’s OK, we’re in the car. I’m leaving the dog park. We’re only 90 seconds away,’ he tells Tess.

‘Oh shit. She’s so upset you’ve come to get me? Scott! Is she alright? I wish you’d called me sooner,’ Tess breathes. 

‘Mom, Annie’s crying really hard. We wanted to bring her to you,’ Corinne adds, rather unhelpfully. 

He doesn’t want to unnecessarily worry Tess. Annie is a robust, healthy baby, a little strenuous crying isn’t nice for anyone but it’s not dangerous or harming her. Still, it hurts his heart to hear his baby girl distressed. 

‘Darling, she is upset,’ he clarifies. ‘It escalated quickly. She’s hungry and I thought it best we come and get you’. 

As he drives over the crest of the hill the children’s playground looms up on the right. He spies Tess, phone to her ear, jogging towards them. He slowly pulls to the kerb and stops the car.

‘Hey,’ he smiles at his wife, kissing her cheek after he jumps out and takes the dogs’ leads from her. She looks gorgeous, her cheeks are pink and her face is sun kissed. 

‘She’s OK, right?’ Tess checks in with a concerned grimace.

‘Nothing that a quick feed won’t cure,’ he assures while squeezing her hand. ‘I’ll hang onto the dogs, you grab the kids and we can sit in the park while your feed Annie’. 

He overhears Tess whispering words of comfort to Annie as she removes the baby from her carseat before encouraging the twins to unbuckle their own seatbelts.

*

By the time Tess and the kids join him in walking to the playground Annabelle’s cries have been reduced to a strong whimper and she’s rooting against Tess’ chest in search of her lunch. 

He sits down with the dogs, claiming a park bench in a shaded spot just outside the playground’s perimeter.

‘Two secs baby girl,’ Tess sighs as she lets Corinne and Ethan into the gated play area. ‘Guys, Dad and I are going to sit on that bench with Milly and Hallie. The dogs aren’t allowed in with the play equipment. We’ll be able to see you the whole time. But sing out if you need us, OK?’ 

The twins give a simultaneous thumbs up then disappear into a huge multi-storey timber fort.

He arranges the dogs’ leads in a secure knot around one of the slats on the bench. The dogs lay happily together, their bellies against the cool cement floor. By the time he turns his head towards Tess she has Annie securely attached to her breast, their daughter making those adorable snuffling-shuddery noises babies are inclined to make after a big cry. 

Tess gives him one of her crinkley-eyed smiles and leans her head on his shoulder. They sit together while Annie feeds, taking turns to call out encouragement to the older kids. 

‘Question?’ she prompts.

‘Oh, we haven’t played this for a while. Let me think’.

He ponders. 

He can’t think of anything good to ask. 

‘Are there any unanswered questions left?’ he sweeps his arm around Tess’ shoulders.

‘Dr Moir,’ she chastises, ‘you disappoint me! There are always unanswered questions. Dig a little deeper!’

‘It’s been ten years, my darling. I think I know everything about you,’ he pokes out his tongue. 

‘If that’s so, what am I thinking right now?’ 

Hmmm, she’s thrown out a decent challenge. But he knows he’s up for it. He knows this woman like the proverbial back of his hand. 

‘I think there are three possibilities,’ he announces with true confidence. 

‘Oh, yeah?’ Tess looks skeptical as she removes Annie from her breast. She passes the baby to him, fixes her bra then gently takes back their sleepy girl, popping her on the other breast. 

‘Oh, yeah. One, you wish we put sunscreen and hats on the twins. Two, you’re hoping we can stop at your favourite bakery on the way home to buy fresh cheese and bacon bread rolls. And thirdly, you hope all the kids have an early night so we can fuck each other the way we wished we could have last night’. 

He gives a cheeky wink then leans down to kiss Annie’s head, whispering, ‘That means you need to be well behaved tonight Miss Annabelle Jordan Moir’.

He looks at Tess’ face and raises his eyebrows. She bursts out laughing - her gorgeous, throaty laugh. It’s a laugh he never tires of hearing. He still feels a thrill in making her happy. 

‘How’d I do Dr Virtue-Moir?’

‘I refuse to answer on the basis that you will become unbearably smug,’ she faux pouts.

‘I’ll take that as vindication and will most definitely move my smuggness level to unbearable. You’re lucky to have me,’ he teases.

Tess’ face turns serious for a moment. She nods her head, ‘I am. The kids and I? We are. I love you. Thanks for making life fun and funny and safe and just... wonderful’.

His chest tingles at her words. She’s not the lucky one. He’s the lucky one. He still recalls so vividly the moment she glided into his operating theatre. Who’d have thought they’d end up here? Certainly not him.

‘Dad, watch us go down the slide together,’ Corinne yells from the play equipment, interrupting his happy reminiscing.

‘I’m watching,’ he calls back.

His voice breaks Annie from her milk-drunk reverie. She gives him a gummy smile from around Tess’ nipple. 

‘C’mere you divine little creature,’ he snatches Annie from Tess’ arms. ‘Let’s watch your big brother and sister go down the slide’.

Tess snuggles under his other arm and they watch their twins giggle with glee as they wind around the twisty slide.

‘There’s only one thing that’d make this moment better,’ Tess states.

‘Ah, I know the answer to this one too,’ he laughs.

‘Coffee’ they say together.


End file.
